Mastercard has agreed to acquire BVNK, a stablecoin payments infrastructure firm, in a deal valued at up to $1.8 billion, including $300 million in contingent payments.  

The move deepens Mastercard’s end‑to‑end support for digital assets and value movement across currencies, rails and regions, as rising regulatory clarity and broader stablecoin adoption create openings for card networks to push beyond traditional card rails into faster, lower‑cost digital payment systems. 

As digital currencies and tokenized deposits scale, Mastercard said there is growing demand for secure, compliant payment orchestration between fiat and digital currencies across multiple chains. Combining BVNK’s infrastructure with Mastercard’s network aims to deliver “trusted interoperability at scale” that can seamlessly connect systems.  

“We expect that most financial institutions and fintechs will in time provide digital currency services, be it with stablecoins or tokenized deposits,” said Jorn Lambert, chief product officer at Mastercard. “Adding on-chain rails to our network will support speed and programmability for virtually every type of transaction.” 

Since its founding in 2021, BVNK has built infrastructure to bridge fiat and stablecoins, enabling clients to send and receive payments across major blockchains in more than 130 countries.  

“This deal brings together complementary capabilities to define and deliver the future of money,” said Jesse Hemson‑Struthers, BVNK co‑founder and CEO. “Together, we’re able to deliver an unprecedented infrastructure for digital currency-based financial services.”  

The transaction, which builds on initiatives such as the Mastercard Crypto Partner Program, is expected to close before year‑end.